Katie + Scott's Classic Sydney Wedding

Natural, radiant and beaming are three words that come to mind when looking through Katie and Scott's wedding photos. This gorgeous couple who have been together for 5 years wed at the stunning Moby Dicks Whale Beach in Sydney. They were blessed with a perfectly warm, sunny day - a rare find for August. Katie opted for soft, timeless and romantic notes throughout the styling of the day, with a clean & natural floral palette & dark green textural foliage. Congratulations Katie & Scott, we wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Background

How did you meet your partner? Scott was traveling around Europe when my closest girlfriend from uni, Amanda, started dating one of his best mates, Nicholas, from high school. Over the year Scot was away I became well acquainted with his circle of friends and was invited to a weekend away in Foster for NYE, 2011/12 where we finally met on Elizabeth Beach.

How long have you been together? Five years.

Do you have a proposal story? Scott took me to China Doll in the city, for dinner to celebrate our third anniversary - which was deliciously good! After dinner, we bumped into some friends at the French restaurant next door and decided to have a few drinks with them. Once we were done instead of jumping in a cab for home, Scott suggested we go for a walk since it was such a nice evening. He then lead me to The Sydney Harbour Marriott, where he surprised me with a room. There were roses and champagne waiting as we walked in, and as we started to settle in, he asked me to open the safe to see his watch, which he’d told he’d broken earlier that day. To my surprise when I opened the safe, I didn’t see a watch, but I did find an engagement ring. I turned around in complete shock to find that he had already ‘bent the knee’ and asked me to pass the ring to him before he asked me to marry him, to which I immediately replied, YES!

What made you choose there? We both spend a lot of time at the beach and the location and views are just divine there. The venue seriously gorgeous, it really doesn’t need much to make it look good. We also liked the fact that the venue only hosts one wedding per day. Plus the Boathouse group is known for their fantastic food and service, so it was an easy decision.

How did you find it? Through The Boathouse Group. We had almost settled on The Boathouse, Palm Beach before the coordinator suggested we see Moby Dicks before making any decisions and as soon as we did we locked it in!

How was the weather on the day? Absolute perfection. It was around 24 degrees, with a soft breeze, sunny and not a cloud in the sky.

Was there a reason you decided to get married on this date? It was exactly a year from the date of our engagement party.

Where did you draw your inspiration/ideas from? Pinterest was probably my main source of visual inspiration, but nowhere in particular, I kind of just picked it all as I went along.

Were any aspects of your wedding D.I.Y? If so What? DIY Succulent wedding favours. I started growing them straight after our engagement party. I even made the little flags that said “let love grow” on one side and “Scott and Katie 26.08.18” on the other side.

Bridal Party

Bridesmaids - who/relationship? The bridesmaids consisted of my best friends!

Janelle Loh — MOH and best friend
Natalie Liebmann
Amanda Christiansen (this my friend who started dating Scott’s friend Nick and who we met through. She was also a KWH bride)
Elise Lansky
Trent Kelly- yes, I had a bridesman!

Groomsmen - who/relationship?

Tom Higgins — BM friend from high school
David Grant - Brother
Mody Grant — Brother
Nicholas Christiansen — friend from high school and Amanda’s now husband! James Hull — friend from high school

Wedding Gown (the most important part!)

Katie wore the Lottie gown with the Genevieve drape skirt.

What made you decide to come into Karen Willis Holmes? She’s an Australian Designer and I loved the beaded dresses.

What did you especially like about your gown? The beaded detailing around the bust area, delicate straps and elegant train. The size 10 fit me so perfectly; I didn’t even need to have the hem taken up.

Where did you get the groom and groomsmen’s suits? Private tailor overseas

What accessories did you choose to finish your gown and also for those in your bridal party? I wore little diamond earrings and a pair of Swarovski earrings. I bought the girls Swarovski earrings and a necklace. Trent had some custom cufflinks.

Where did you get your shoes from? I can’t remember, but it wasn’t anywhere special. Because I’m so tall, I was more concerned about finding a pair of shoes that was the right height and colour.

Did you wear a veil/headpiece? Where did you get this from? Yes, and I bought it from KHW.

Other

What advice would you give brides organising their wedding? Have fun, don’t sweat the small stuff and never forget the most important part of the day is the person standing next to you when you’re taking your vows.

What advice would you give brides searching for their wedding gown? Always go with your gut instinct!

Anything extra that is special or you would like to share about your big day. We had a morning wedding and lunch reception, which we loved because we got to make the most of the gorgeous views from Moby Dicks. The reception finished at 7 pm and then the bridal party came back to a house we’d hired on the beach only a few hundred meters away from Moby’s, where we partied the night away!

I would definitely recommend Sammy! She’s professional, incredibly creative and very easy to work with. I showed her a few reference pictures and the proposal she put together was exactly what I had envisaged.

Videographer —Cloud Herd Film Co. are awesome. They’re fun, creative and the shots they took were unbelievable!

Music — Soulganic. I’d first heard them at another friend’s wedding and fell in love with Kat’s voice. They’re an awesome couple. Scott and I love live music and thought they were the right vibe for us, especially since we had a lunch reception. They can do everything as well, DJ, duo, band. I mean they even played Arabic music for us at my request, which was unreal haha. They definitely got everyone up dancing!

First Dance — ‘I wasn’t expecting that’, by Jamie Lawson. Sung live by Kat from Soulganic

MC — We didn’t need to hire anyone for this, we asked one of our close friends who was born for the role.

Celebrant —Father Kevin, from St Peter Chanel. He’s Scott’s grandmother's priest of the last 10 or so odd years, so it made sense to go with him. She really appreciated it.

Stationery —Paperless Post, because we’re all about saving the planet.

Recommended through a friend. Not only did our cake look amazing, but it tasted amazing. I loved the design she created! I showed her a couple of reference images and she nailed the product.

Bombonieres — Made by yours truly!

Hair — My hairdresser’s name is Mayssa Roude. I’ve been getting my hair done with her for the last 10 year, so it was an easy choice. She’s incredibly talented, so down to earth and I just adore her.

Makeup — by Sarah Bezzina. Recommended through a friend, booked a trial and LOVED her work. She’s also a really nice girl. I wanted someone to fit in with the bridesmaids and I, have fun with us getting ready in the morning and make us feel relaxed etc. Sarah was perfect and I really loved our makeup.

Wedding Bands —Dustin's, Strand Arcade. It’s where Scott bought my engagement ring from. They specialize in diamonds, so it made sense to get our wedding bands from the same place since Scott already had that relationship.